


Those Who Come to San Francisco

by TheSecondBatgirl



Category: Marvel, X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-14
Updated: 2010-02-14
Packaged: 2017-10-07 06:23:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/62304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSecondBatgirl/pseuds/TheSecondBatgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jubilee comes back to the X-Men</p>
            </blockquote>





	Those Who Come to San Francisco

When Jubilee turned up in San Francisco, it was a surprise to most of the X-Men. They hadn't seen very much of her since she'd lost her powers. The X-Men had known about the New Warriors, of course, but they had mostly left Jubilee alone.

That, Emma was beginning to consider, may not have been the best idea. Jubilation had always had a very bright spirit, but the girl who currently spent most of her time hiding in her room bore little resemblance to the Jubilee who had played so many pranks on her years before. Emma had known that Jubilee had had a tough time of it since losing her powers, but she couldn't remember the last time that she'd seen the girl look so defeated.

It was unnerving, and simply could not be allowed to continue. The old Jubilee had always been able to cheer up the other members of the X-Men, and this one was just making them more depressed.

Emma would have actually welcomed a prank from the girl, even if Jubilee had mostly outgrown such poor behavior years before. At least Jubilee would have been showing some emotion.

"What do you want, Frosty?" Jubilee asked as Emma came up behind her in the kitchen. Jubilee had been rummaging through the refrigerator, trying to find something decent to munch on. "And could you stay out of my head?"

Emma frowned. "I wasn't going to use my powers on you, as you have no shields left to speak of," she told her.

"I know I don't," Jubilee replied, turning around to face her. "But I also know you, and you tend to pry. Thanks for rubbing it in, anyway."

"I just wished to see how you were doing."

Jubilee rolled her eyes. "You could always just ask me, instead of trying to pry."

"Very well. How are you finding things here?"

"Oh, everything is just peachy keen." Jubilee was giving Emma her best expression of wide-eyed innocence. Which Emma was admittedly quite familiar with from all of her time with Generation X.

"Jubilation," she said, her disapproval shining through in those few syllables.

Jubilee rolled her eyes. "What do you want me to say? I'm surrounded by pretty much the only people in the world who still have their powers, I screwed up with the New Warriors, and you guys didn't even bother to tell me about the move. I had to hear about it from M, and trust me, she's not going to let me live it down any time soon. You can spare me the lecture about how badly I messed things up. I already know. So, I don't know what else there is to say."

"We could start with 'Welcome home,'" Emma suggested. "As I don't believe that anyone has offered that to you, with Wolverine off on a mission." That made some of Jubilee's recent behavior make more sense, as Emma could only assume that he was the reason that Jubilee had returned to them.

"Of course he is," Jubilee muttered. "He'll be back though, eventually." She glanced out the window. "He always comes back."

"He'll be glad to see you when he returns."

Jubilee looked back at her. "Why are you being so nice all of a sudden?"

"You are still one of my students," Emma told her. "And I thought that we had made our peace years ago."

Jubilee sighed. "That was different. I mean, I still had my powers then."

"That doesn't make you any less of an X-Man," Emma told her.

"You start giving me the 'X-Men are your family' speech, and I'll kick your ass, powers or no powers," Jubilee warned. "I've heard it before."

"You clearly believe it, or you wouldn't be here."

Jubilee shrugged. "Not like I had anywhere else to go. I just…"

"Just what?" Emma prompted.

Jubilee hesitated, and for a moment Emma seriously considered just pulling the thoughts out of the girl's mind. She had always been infuriating, but never like this.

"I thought," Jubilee said finally, "that if I came back to the X-Men, I could help. I mean, I don't have my powers anymore, and a lot of what I did with the New Warriors was a mistake, but the X-Men have always been about making a difference, and I thought if I was here I could help some."

"All you had to do was ask," Emma told her.

"I thought you didn't think that former mutants belonged with the X-Men," Jubilee said. "I mean, you kicked out Moonstar."

"That may have been a mistake," Emma admitted quietly.

Jubilee stared, waiting for her to continue, and Emma sighed. "You have more than proven that you still have something to offer. It was… wrong of the X-Men not to realize that after M-Day."

"So what do you want me to do?" Some of the familiar light was returning to Jubilee's eyes, and Emma was pleased. It was not forgiveness, which she hadn't been looking for anyway, but it was a start.

"I was actually thinking that you could help some of our new arrivals adjust," Emma told her. "You are familiar with both my teaching style and life with the X-Men."

Jubilee grinned, the first true smile that Emma could recall seeing on her face since before M-Day. "So I get to warn the new crop about you. Sounds like a plan."

Emma sighed. "Do not make me regret this," she warned.

"I won't," Jubilee promised. "And… thanks. You know. For looking out for me."

"Any time." Emma nearly smiled, but then caught herself before Jubilee could catch her. "Don't you have some work to do?" As Jubilee left, looking happier than before, Emma allowed herself to smile. She couldn't save all of her students, but this one at least would be just fine.


End file.
